Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
| screenplay = Michael DeLuca | story = Rachel Talalay | based on = | starring = | music = Brian May | cinematography = Declan Quinn | editing = Janice Hampton | distributor = New Line Cinema | released = | runtime = 89 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $11 million | gross = $34.9 million }} Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare is a 1991 American comedy horror film and the sixth film in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. It is the sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and is followed by Wes Craven's New Nightmare, which takes place outside the series' canon. This was New Line Cinema's first film released in 3-D. Upon its release, the film received a poor critical reception. Robert Englund reprises his role as Freddy Krueger; Lisa Zane, Yaphet Kotto, Breckin Meyer, Shon Greenblatt, Ricky Dean Logan, Lezlie Deane and Tobe Sexton also star. Additionally, several well-known actors make cameo appearances in the film, including Johnny Depp (whose screen debut was in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street), Roseanne Barr, Tom Arnold, and Alice Cooper. Iggy Pop sings the title song, which plays over a montage of scenes from the previous Nightmare films during the end credits. Plot More than a decade after the last film, Freddy Krueger has since returned and killed nearly every child and teenager in the town of Springwood, Ohio. The only surviving teenager, known only as "John Doe", finds himself confronted by Freddy in a dream and wakes up just outside the Springwood City limits and does not remember who he is or why he is outside of Springwood. At a shelter for troubled youth, Spencer, Carlos, and Tracy plot to run away from the shelter to California. Carlos was physically abused by his parents, resulting in a hearing disability; Tracy was raped by her father; and Spencer was a stoner. John, after being picked up by the police, becomes a resident of the shelter and a patient of Dr. Maggie Burroughs. Maggie notices a newspaper clipping in John's pocket from Springwood. To cure John's amnesia, she plans a road trip to Springwood. Tracy, Carlos, and Spencer stow away in the van to escape the shelter, but they are discovered when John has a hallucination and almost wrecks the van just outside Springwood. Tracy, Spencer, and Carlos, after trying to leave Springwood, rest at a nearby abandoned house, which transforms into 1428 Elm Street, Freddy Krueger's former home. John and Maggie visit Springwood Orphanage and discover that Freddy had a child. John believes he is the child because Freddy allowed him to live. Back on Elm Street, Carlos and Spencer fall asleep and are killed by Freddy. Tracy is almost killed, but she is awakened by Maggie. John, who went into the dream world with Tracy to try to help Spencer, is still asleep. Maggie and Tracy take him back to the shelter. On their way back, Krueger kills John in his dream, but not before revealing that Krueger's kid is a girl. As John dies, he reveals this information to Maggie. Tracy and Maggie return to the shelter, but they discover that no one remembers John, Spencer, or Carlos except for Doc, who has learned to control his dreams. Maggie remembers what John told her and discovers her own adoption papers, learning that she is Freddy's daughter. Her birth name was Katherine Krueger, and her name was later changed to Maggie Burroughs. Doc discovers Freddy's power comes from the "dream demons" who continually revive him, and that Freddy can be killed if he is pulled into the real world. Maggie decides that she will be the one to enter Freddy's mind and pull him into the real world. Once in the dream world, she puts on a pair of 3-D glasses and enters Freddy's mind. There, she discovers that Freddy was teased as a child, abused by his foster father, inflicted self-abuse as a teenager, and murdered his wife. Freddy was given the power to become immortal from fiery demons. After some struggling, Maggie pulls Freddy into the real world. Maggie and Freddy end up in hand-to-hand combat against one another. While Maggie continues to battle Freddy, she uses several weapons confiscated from patients at the shelter. Enraged by the knowledge of what he has done, she disarms him of his clawed glove. Eventually, Maggie stabs Freddy in the stomach with his own glove while she is close to him. Tracy throws Maggie a pipe bomb. After she impales Freddy to a steel support beam she throws the bomb in his chest. She says "Happy Fathers Day", kisses him, and runs. The three dream demons fly out of Freddy after the pipe bomb kills him. Maggie smiles at Tracy and Doc; she is confident that her father is dead. Cast * Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger * Lisa Zane as Maggie Burroughs/Katherine Krueger * Lezlie Deane as Tracy * Shon Greenblatt as John Doe * Breckin Meyer as Spencer Lewis * Ricky Dean Logan as Carlos * Yaphet Kotto as Doc * Tobe Sexton as Teenage Freddy Krueger * Cassandra Rachel Freil as Young Maggie/Katherine * Lindsey Fields as Loretta Krueger (as Lyndsey Fields) * Johnny Depp (Cameo) Guy On TV (as Oprah Noodlemantra) * Tom Arnold as Childless Man (as Mr. Tom Arnold) * Roseanne Barr as Ethel (as Mrs. Tom Arnold) * Alice Cooper as Edward Underwood * Elinor Donahue as Orphanage Woman Production In the original script of the film, 15-year-old Jacob Johnson (son of the previous installment's main character, Alice Johnson) was the major character while many of the "Dream Warriors" would return to aid Jacob in defeating Freddy after he kills Alice.Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (Original script). Retrieved January 29, 2012. This idea was later trashed and rewritten into the final script. Peter Jackson also wrote a screenplay, but it was not used; his screenplay was about how Freddy had become seen as such of a low threat that teenagers were now taking sleeping pills just so they could mess with him. A police officer then was to go into a comatose state, thus permanently being in Freddy's realm. The last ten minutes of the film are in 3-D. Maggie putting on her 3-D glasses in the film is visually intended to be the audience's cue to do the same. The effect was eliminated for the VHS and television releases — with the exception of the UK and French rental version and the US Laserdisc version. The DVD box set, released in 1999, includes 2 pairs of 3-D glasses to use with the reinstated effect. Reception Box office Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare made $12,966,525 in the opening weekend, which was the highest opening weekend for the series until the release of Freddy vs. Jason. After its initial run, the film grossed a total of $34,872,033 in the United States, making it the fifth highest-grossing film in the series. Critical response Reviews for the film were generally negative. It currently holds a 20% rating on film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews. Austin Chronicle wrote, "Freddy Krueger ... has devolved from the horrific, ill-defined phantasm posited in the original film into a bland and annoyingly predictable boogeyman loved by kids everywhere." The film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song for the song "Why Was I Born (Freddy's Dead)". Soundtrack The soundtrack for the film was released September 24, 1991 by Warner Bros. Records. While not included on the soundtrack, the song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly is featured in the film. # Goo Goo Dolls – "I'm Awake Now" # Junk Monkeys – "Everything Remains the Same" # Goo Goo Dolls – "You Know What I Mean" # Johnny Law – "Remember the Night" # Chubb Rock – "Treat 'em Right" # Iggy Pop – "Why Was I Born? (Freddy's Dead)" # Johnny Law – "Hold Me Down" # Goo Goo Dolls – "Two Days in February" # Young Lords – "Give Me a Beat" # Fates Warning – "Nothing Left to Say" On September 3, 1991, Varèse Sarabande released an album of Brian May's score. Comic spin-off Innovation Comics published a three-issue comic adaptation of the film. An alternate version of the third issue was published in 3-D in order to recreate the effect also used in the film. The series was also published in the trade paperback format. Innovation followed the adaptation with A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Beginning. The three-issue mini-series served as a direct sequel to Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, as Maggie Burroughs continues to have nightmares of her father Freddy Krueger, following the events of the film. Traveling back to Springwood with Tracy, another survivor from the film, Maggie researches Freddy's life leading up to his death at the hands of the Springwood parents. Only the first two issues of the series were released before Innovation Comics declared bankruptcy, leaving the third issue still unpublished and the story incomplete. Series writer Andy Mangels has since made the original script for issue number three available on his website. See also * List of ghost films * List of monster movies References External links * * * * Category:1991 films Category:1991 horror films Category:1990s 3D films Category:1990s comedy horror films Category:1990s sequel films Nightmare Elm Street 6 Category:American teen horror films Category:American films Category:American 3D films Category:American sequel films Category:English-language films Category:American slasher films Category:Directorial debut films Category:Films about amnesia Category:Films produced by Aron Warner Category:Films set in the 1950s Category:Films set in the 1960s Category:Films set in the 1970s Category:Films set in the 1990s 6 Category:Patricide in fiction Category:Uxoricide in fiction Category:Films directed by Rachel Talalay Category:Films adapted into comics Category:Films scored by Brian May (composer) Category:1990s teen horror films